Voters expect economy to get worse before it gets better

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BRITONS expect the economy to deteriorate over the next year but are optimistic that the coalition government’s policies will pay off eventually, a poll showed yesterday.

The Reuters/Ipsos MORI poll, released on the eve of what is expected to be the toughest Budget in a generation, also showed Prime Minister David Cameron enjoyed an approval rating of 57 per cent after just over a month in the job.

Support for the Lib Dems had slipped five percentage points to 19 per cent since the election on 6 May, while the Conservatives were up two points at 39 per cent among those certain to vote in a general election, the poll said.

Forty per cent of those surveyed thought that the economic condition of the country would get worse over the next year, while only 35 per cent saw an improvement.

This puts the poll’s Economic Optimism Index reading into the red at -5 per cent after being in positive territory since the start of the year.

However, 61 per cent of those surveyed believed the new government’s policies would improve the state of Britain’s economy in the long term, against 29 per cent who disagreed.